Some of these apostles have We endowed more highly than others:
among them were such as were spoken to by God [Himself], and some
He has raised yet higher.243 And We vouchsafed unto
Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and
strengthened him with holy inspiration.244 And if God
had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have
contended with one another after all evidence of the truth had
come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views,
and some of them attained to faith, while some of them came to
deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have
contended with one another: but God does whatever He
wills.245

JUZ : 3 These are the Rasools (which We have sent for the
guidance of mankind). We have exalted some above others. To some
Allah spoke directly; others He raised high in ranks; to Isa
(Jesus) the son of Maryem (Mary) We gave clear Signs and
supported him with the Holy Spirit. If Allah wished the people
who received the clear signs would not have fought against each
other; but they disputed as a result, there were some who
believed while others rejected. Yet If Allah wanted, they would
not have fought each other; but Allah does what He intends.

Of those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others,
and of whom there are some unto whom Allah spake, while some of
them He exalted (above others) in degree; and We gave Jesus, son
of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty) and We supported
him with the holy Spirit. And if Allah had so willed it, those
who followed after them would not have fought one with another
after the clear proofs had come unto them. But they differed,
some of them believing and some disbelieving. And if Allah had so
willed it, they would not have fought one with another; but Allah
doeth what He will.

Those apostles We endowed with gifts some above others: to one of
them Allah spoke; others He raised to degrees (of honor); to
Jesus the son of Mary We gave clear (Signs) and strengthened him
with the Holy Spirit. If Allah had so willed succeeding
generations would not have fought among each other after clear
(Signs) had come to them but they (chose) to wrangle some
believing and others rejecting. If Allah had so willed they
would not have fought each other; but Allah fulfilleth His plan.
289290291292293

Note - 243

This appears to be an allusion to Muhammad inasmuch as he
was the Last Prophet and the bearer of a universal
message applicable to all people and to all times. By
"such as were spoken to by God" Moses is meant (see the
last sentence of 4:164).

Note - 244

The mention, in this context, of Jesus by name is
intended to stress the fact of his having been a prophet,
and to refute the claims of those who deify him. For an
explanation of the term ruh al-qudus (rendered by me as
"holy inspiration"), (see note [71] on verse {87} of this
surah).

Note - 245

Once again - as in verse {213} above - the Qur'an alludes
to the inevitability of dissension among human beings: in
other words, it is the will of God that their way to the
truth should be marked by conflicts and trial by error.

Note - 289

Different gifts and different modes of procedure are
prescribed to God's Apostles in different ages, and
perhaps their degrees are different though it is not for
us mortals, with our imperfect knowledge to make any
difference between one and another of God's Apostles (ii.
136). As this winds up the argument about fighting,
three illustrations are given from the past, how it
affected God's Messengers. To Moses God spoke in clouds
of glory; he led his men for forty years through the
wilderness, mainly fighting against the unbelief of his
own people; he organised them to fight with the sword for
Palestine, but was raised to God's mercy before his
enterprise ripened, and it fell to Joshua to carry out
his plan. David, though a mere shepherd boy, was chosen
by God. He overthrew the greatest warrior of his time,
became a king, and waged successful wars, being also a
prophet, a poet, and a musician. Jesus was "strengthened
with the holy spirit": he was given no weapons to fight
and his mission was of a more limited character. In
Muhammad's mission these and other characters were
combined. Gentler than Jesus, he organised on a vaster
scale than Moses and from Medina he ruled and gave laws,
and the Qur-an has a vaster scope than the Psalms of
David.

Note - 290

Moses: see note above.

Note - 291

There is a two-fold sense: they were raised to high posts
of honour, and they rose by degrees. I take the
reference to be to David.

Note - 292

Cf. ii 87. See n. 401 to iii. 62.

Note - 293

If some power of choice was to be given to man, his
selfishness inevitably caused divisions. It must not be
supposed that it frustrates God's Plan. He carries it
out as He will.

Thanks for visiting Alim.org, The Alim Foundation's flagship site that provides the world's only social network built around Qur'an, Hadith, and other classical sources of Islamic knowledge.

We are a free service run by many volunteers and we need your help to stay that way. Please consider a small donation(tax-deductible in the USA) to help us improve Alim.org by adding more content and getting faster servers.

Don't remind me for 30 days

Tags

×
Any content page on the site can be “tagged” by clicking on the “Add Tag” button. A tag is any word or group of words which best describes the subject of the page it belongs to. So for example, let’s say you want to search for ayaat pertaining to the subject of tawhid (i.e. Islamic monotheism). Searching for the word tawhid itself won’t yield many results. What you really need is a way to find ayaat whose subject is tawhid but the word tawhid doesn’t necessarily appear in them. Tagging solves this problem. If you were to be reading, for example, Surah Ash-Shura ayah 11 it might come to your mind that the subject of the ayah includes the topic of tawhid. So you can now tag that page with the word “tawhid”. Thereafter, whenever someone searches for the word “tawhid”, Surah Ash-Shura ayah 11 would appear in the search results.

Asad 243This appears to be an allusion to Muhammad inasmuch as he
was the Last Prophet and the bearer of a universal
message applicable to all people and to all times. By
"such as were spoken to by God" Moses is meant (see the
last sentence of 4:164).

Asad

0 votes 0 dislikes

Asad 244The mention, in this context, of Jesus by name is
intended to stress the fact of his having been a prophet,
and to refute the claims of those who deify him. For an
explanation of the term ruh al-qudus (rendered by me as
"holy inspiration"), (see note [71] on verse {87} of this
surah).

Asad

0 votes 0 dislikes

Asad 245Once again - as in verse {213} above - the Qur'an alludes
to the inevitability of dissension among human beings: in
other words, it is the will of God that their way to the
truth should be marked by conflicts and trial by error.

No Comments Found

No Comments Found

Yusuf Ali

0 votes 0 dislikes

Yusuf Ali 289Different gifts and different modes of procedure are
prescribed to God's Apostles in different ages, and
perhaps their degrees are different though it is not for
us mortals, with our imperfect knowledge to make any
difference between one and another of God's Apostles (ii.
136). As this winds up the argument about fighting,
three illustrations are given from the past, how it
affected God's Messengers. To Moses God spoke in clouds
of glory; he led his men for forty years through the
wilderness, mainly fighting against the unbelief of his
own people; he organised them to fight with the sword for
Palestine, but was raised to God's mercy before his
enterprise ripened, and it fell to Joshua to carry out
his plan. David, though a mere shepherd boy, was chosen
by God. He overthrew the greatest warrior of his time,
became a king, and waged successful wars, being also a
prophet, a poet, and a musician. Jesus was "strengthened
with the holy spirit": he was given no weapons to fight
and his mission was of a more limited character. In
Muhammad's mission these and other characters were
combined. Gentler than Jesus, he organised on a vaster
scale than Moses and from Medina he ruled and gave laws,
and the Qur-an has a vaster scope than the Psalms of
David.

Yusuf Ali

0 votes 0 dislikes

Yusuf Ali 290Moses: see note above.

Yusuf Ali

0 votes 0 dislikes

Yusuf Ali 291There is a two-fold sense: they were raised to high posts
of honour, and they rose by degrees. I take the
reference to be to David.

Yusuf Ali

0 votes 0 dislikes

Yusuf Ali 292Cf. ii 87. See n. 401 to iii. 62.

Yusuf Ali

0 votes 0 dislikes

Yusuf Ali 293If some power of choice was to be given to man, his
selfishness inevitably caused divisions. It must not be
supposed that it frustrates God's Plan. He carries it
out as He will.